Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom control apparatus and a zoom control method for controlling a zoom operation.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there have been known imaging apparatuses having both the function of performing an optical variable magnification (optical zoom) by driving a zoom lens and the function of performing an electronic variable magnification (electronic zoom) by enlarging a part of a captured image. There have also been known imaging apparatuses having an automatic zoom function, which automatically changes a zoom position according to information detected from an object (subject).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-95019 discusses the configuration of a camera equipped with an automatic zoom function which keeps the size of an object image constant. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-95019 also discusses a method in which the user, when using the automatic zoom function, is allowed to select a composition pattern from among a plurality of options, such as “face close-up”, “upper-body close-up”, and “whole body”. The automatic zoom control, which maintains the size of an object image, determines the size of an object image, which serves as a benchmark for zoom control, based on the selected composition pattern. For example, when “whole body” is selected, a zoom operation is performed in such a way as to cause the whole-body image of a person serving as an object to be set in a shooting image plane.
However, in the case of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-95019, in the above-mentioned automatic zoom function, a configuration for receiving an operation performed when the operator wants to temporarily fine adjust the composition is not taken into consideration. To enable the operator to fine adjust the composition in such a way, zoom control is to be performed based on the composition fine adjusted by the operator and zoom control performed based on the composition pattern selected from options compatible with each other without impairing the operability of the operator.